Anna or Kejriwal, who is right?

Recently Anna Hazare announced that he is not going to be a part of the new political party or movement that Arvind Kejriwal is planning to start soon. It was surprising, if not shocking to know this. Forming a political party and taking this anti-corruption movement to the next level was the next logical step in the direction of bringing reforms to our corrupt political and bureaucratic system. The question that comes to my mind is why Anna chose to stay away from a political option? Is it because he feels that involvement in politics will corrupt his movement? Does he think that politics is a dirty game and wants to play safe? What is it, that made him take this decision, and what effect this decision can have on the current political and social scenario? Who is right, Anna or Arvind?

Anti-corruption movement started with a bang when Anna Hazare sat on his fist fast for the Lokpal issue and it charged the whole nation. The problem was there, everyone knew it, and people responded spontaneously which even took the government by surprise. For people of my generation, this movement is a chance to be a part of Indian history, our generation never witnessed any part of the freedom struggle, we were just kids or infants during the emergency, but we can be a very important part of this important movement and that's why it means a lot for our generation.

At the beginning of the movement people's response to it created a lot of hope and many things happened after that. A committee was set up for the Janlokpal bill draft formation and discussion, this didn't work out very well as there were huge differences between the government's version of the Lokpal bill and Team Anna's version. The government prepared its own Lokpal bill and introduced it in parliament, there was a heated debate on the contents of that bill and the effectiveness of this newly proposed system. In general, this issue was there in the media for 3-4 months, and then slowly attention shifted to some recent scams and fuel price hike-related issues. When Anna sat for his second fast for the same issue, it created much less turmoil and public participation was also less compared to the last time. The government also realized that these things were not going to make any dent in its vote bank or affect its stability so they conveniently ignored the movement. This forced the movement and its leaders to think about alternative ways to fight the anti-corruption battle. I think at this point they realized that just fasting or protests are not going to bring change. It might trouble the ruling party or government for some time and force them to discuss these issues but policies or laws can not be formed or changed by using these ways. Maybe this led them to think of the idea of forming a political party that can give voters an alternative to select honest and sincere candidates who are willing to work for people's welfare rather than working to fulfill some personal ambitions. This sounds more logical but very difficult path to follow. Creating a political party and managing it is not a simple thing in the Indian political system, but without doing this it's foolish to expect that current political parties and politicians will suddenly change their ways and become sincere and honest just because of some protests and fasts. Corruption is not a recent problem in Indian politics or bureaucracy, it's so old that it has become a norm now. I don't think ruling parties will care even if few people die while fasting, it might create some temporary uproar among the public but current establishments know very well how to handle these types of things. These things (protests and fasts) work very well for local issues where urgent attention is required but for national issues like corruption different type of movement is required which can run for a longer time to be effective, 10 day protests or fasts are not going to force the change.

As I mentioned giving people a better political alternative sounds very logical but very difficult option to execute for the anti-corruption movement to move forward. I think initially everyone thought this as a very viable alternative and I remember that Anna Hazare himself announced this option at the end of his second fast in Delhi, but something went wrong in the coming days. Arvind Kejriwal and his followers moved forward to form a political group and I think others decided to wait and watch. This resulted in a clear divide in team Anna. One group became totally inactive and waited for Anna's announcement and another group started their work toward the formation of a political outfit. Finally, Anna announced that he wouldn't be a part of any political party, which is totally fine, it's his choice and it should be respected but he also forbade India against corruption or Arvind's group to use his name and image for their movement which is totally surprising. This created a lot of confusion. If it remains like this I am sure this will nullify any effect this movement might have on the next general elections, I don't know which candidates or party Anna and his group are planning to support? Even JP (Jay Prakash Narayan) stood with the Janata Party to bring the change in 1977, he didn't fight the election or accept any post but he clearly associated his name and image with a particular party to bring that change.

Without giving viable political alternatives what Anna expects voters to do? Right now it is very confusing and not a very good scenario for the anti-corruption movement. Either they should associate themselves with some political party that can endorse their ideas and views or form their own party and fight the elections. If they are not willing to do any of these things and just want to play a safe game then there is no point in doing all this because, for any policy change, they have to depend on other political parties which will act only as per their own requirements and benefits. It is difficult to say who is right here, Anna or Kejriwal, but it is also true that both of them should come together to make this battle successful. I hope that this issue between these two groups will be resolved soon and they come up with some common plan that can reignite this movement and initiate the change in the system which is badly required. I know that this is not going to be an easy battle, it will be very long and one can not expect positive results in one or two elections but it should start at least then only we can expect some positive outcome.

Thanks for reading and please share your views on this topic. 

(Copyright: Vinay Thakur. Please contact the author for re-posting or publishing) 

OMG those high heels

I never thought that I would write any post on this subject, but here it is. The high heels, which females wear, you see them everywhere, teenage girls, women, old ladies all of them wear them or I should say forced to wear them. This force is not any physical force, it's the indirect force similar to what makes people drink Coke and other soft drinks instead of water, similar one what makes people believe fairer skin is more beautiful compared to dark. It's an indirect pressure created by aggressive marketing and stereotyping of the concept of beauty. Nowadays the height of a lady doesn't depend on how tall is she naturally but on how tall high heels she can wear, and the pressure of looking tall is very serious there are not many females who can escape this pressure. Push is really strong and has created a huge market for footwear. 

It's being propagated widely that tall looks complement the beauty. It's a plain lie because beauty depends on many factors and height is one of them (in a similar way where they say fairer skin is better or more beautiful than darker skin, a single factor can not be responsible for being beautiful). It seems that looking tall makes women feel confident or if they are already confident it boosts their confidence. So, for women who are not naturally tall only option to feel confident is to wear those high heels, and if you look around you can see that this propaganda is working and people do really believe in this. I am sure wearing these high heels beyond a certain height must have certain disadvantages or health risks associated with it but ladies are willing to wear them despite all risks. I wonder what is forcing them? Peer pressure, social pressure, stereotyping tallness as an integral part of beauty, or feeling of missing out? 

One thing I should accept is that it really amazes me beyond limits when I see all these ladies wearing high heels and walking comfortably.  Let me tell you that it's not at all that easy, I was so curious about it that I tried and I can barely stand wearing them forget about walking and these ladies not only walk but dance, and climb steps. This is just phenomenal. I thought that waxing (by which they remove unwanted body hair) was the only torture modern women voluntarily accept to look beautiful but I think the pain of waxing is nothing compared to this continuous balancing act that they have to perform with these high heels.

I am not against any of these things, it's totally up to women to decide what they like to wear and how they want to present themselves. However, I feel sad when I see womanhood, femininity, or beauty getting stereotyped like this. I wish at least a few of them to stand up and say 'Hey it's not necessary to wear those towers to look beautiful, short or tall, fair or dark everything is beautiful.' I am sure some women are there who don't care about these things but I think they are in the minority and most of them succumb to the pressure of making themselves presentable as per the latest fashion trend. I know that this is not a big social issue but this is not only about high heels or fairness creams but about the stereotyping the beauty and I hope people understand it.

Thanks for reading and please share your views on this topic. 

(Copyright: Vinay Thakur. Please contact the author for re-posting or publishing)  

References:

1. http://jujanester.hubpages.com/hub/jujanester-highheels

Is banning a solution or a problem?

I wrote my last post about the movie or video clip which is creating a lot of controversy nowadays. While writing that I was thinking about many other movies, books, articles, or cartoons that created similar reactions or uproars in the past and were banned in various countries. I was wondering what purpose these bans served? Did they solve any problem? Did these banned things disappear because of the ban or did they become more popular? Did banning these things serve any purpose or create more trouble or problems? 

The Satanic Verses was banned for some objectionable content and it made Salman Rushdie a world-famous author and celebrity. Lajja made Tasleema Nasreen a permanent refugee in India and also a celebrity. Arun Shourie was already a celebrated author but his book 'Worshiping False Gods' resulted in him getting mobbed and attacked in his own country. All these books are still very popular and are still in very high demand and some people read them just because they are curious about these books because of the ban imposed on them. There were bans issued against many other books, movies, cartoons, etc. Protests, fatwas, and whatnot followed but in the end, what happened? Who won or who lost?

This reminds me of some incidents in history, even Jesus was mobbed and attacked, many people wanted to kill Muhammad, and Budhha was also not very popular because he challenged many established religious beliefs and faiths. I am not comparing these people with anybody but just comparing the situations and mentality of a mob. Some people, organizations or establishments were always against new thoughts or ideas which doesn't fit in their ideology and the interesting part is that they don't try to oppose these things with better thoughts or ideas but rather they try to attack these people, try to kill them and think that by killing a person they can kill their ideas. It never worked with anyone in history, rather whenever these authors, books, or even a crappy movie like 'Innocence of Muslims' were attacked they became more famous, they got more attention, more followers, and generated more curiosity. These bans and violent protests help to make these things more popular. Some of these books or movies (like Innocence of Muslims) are made or written to create trouble and these protesters help to fulfill that by their behavior and they don't even realize it. So my question is why don't people understand that by attacking people, books or any ideology by violence they are not going to achieve anything other than destruction and trouble? They indirectly help to make these things more popular. I agree that sometimes these articles, films, or ideologies need to be criticized or questioned but definitely, violence in any form is not required to oppose them. One can register their protests in many forms which don't require any sort of violence and are equally effective or if they don't agree with contents of any of these things then just ignore them.

I personally love to read and it is one of my favorite hobbies but till now I have not read anything where I thought it required violence to register my protest against it. Humans claim to be different than other animals and very often believe it or not we behave like or worse than other animals. Can't we behave more like humans than animals while registering our protests, can't we understand that there is bound to be a difference of opinion among us and we should learn to live with it? Is it that difficult? I don't think it is. 

Thanks for reading and please share your views on this topic. 

(Copyright: Vinay Thakur. Please contact the author for re-posting or publishing)  

Innocence of Muslims - a worst movie but a big hit

Today I saw this movie or part of the movie called 'Innocence of Muslims' made by someone called Sam Bacile (I don't even know who this guy is and if he has made any other movie before). The quality and content of this movie are pathetic. The movie (actually it doesn't even deserve to be addressed as a movie) is very poorly filmed, edited, and scripted. The movie was made with only one intention that is to create a disturbance and uproar in Islamic countries and Muslim communities. Guess what, people didn't disappoint the maker of this movie at all. I think even the maker himself would not have imagined that his movie would attract this much attention and people would take it so seriously. There were many protests, riots, and damage to public property and also there was the assassination of a US diplomat just because of this one video clip. Sounds so unreal and filmy, but its reality. People made this video so successful that I am sure many more will come like this after all who don't want to become successful and famous, that too with so little effort. So this crappy video is a big HIT now, bigger than any Hindi movie or Hollywood blockbuster.

As I said almost all religions claim that they teach love and compassion, but very seldom do we see these qualities in their followers when their religion is criticized or even if someone points out some uncomfortable facts from history. This is true for every major organized religion, I am not only talking about Islam or Hinduism here (two major religions of India), there are no exceptions. When religion is criticized, its followers suddenly forget all teachings from their books, gurus, messengers, or prophets and indulge in violent protests, vandalism, and riots in the name of protecting their religion. I don't understand how one can protect his/her own religion by killing others. This massacre in the name of religion has been going on for centuries. People are killing each other in the name of protecting their religion but even after so much killing, no one could wipe out any religion from this earth, rather more and more messengers and prophets were born and more religions were created. All this violence only bred more sects, religions, and factions within that religion. There was another news also where at least 6 people (including 2 minors) were killed in Ghaziabad (a town in UP, India), this happened after the violence that followed the alleged desecration of the holy Quran. Six people died because someone did something to a book? This doesn't make any sense to me, no matter what book that was, be it the Bhagavad Gita, Quran, Bible, or something else. Also, how someone can insult a book? Once a person buys any book it is his/her property and they can read it, throw it, or burn it, how does it matter? And after killing so many people what good it did to that book or religion? Can anyone explain that? This is totally insane, isn't it?

I don't know if people see something wrong in their violent reactions, on one side they believe that there is some powerful, super controlling entity who created this world and also manages it, and on the other side, they kill each other, destroy their creator's creations and that too in name of protecting that all-powerful creator? Doesn't make any sense? This is true with all major religions, not only for any particular religion. There are so many ways to protest or to register your disagreement but for some reason, they prefer only violence. It's quite natural to get upset to see something that you don't like or not to feel comfortable with things that hurt your feelings but you won't kill people just because of some unpleasant comments against your beliefs or over disagreement. I don't know when people will realize this. Organized religion has disappointed me big time. It failed miserably in spreading peace in the world. I think we need something like science where people can disagree freely with each other but still work peacefully towards the fulfillment of some common great goal which is to serve humanity and the planet. I know many people won't agree with this and will give many reasons for the need for religion but then they should also be able to tell me when this mad violence in the name of religion and its protection will stop? If something is not working it's better to dump it and search for an alternative rather than waiting for that thing to fix itself, that to when we know that it can't fix itself. Unless we all understand this basic problem with our approach towards our religions and their symbols, videos like this will come out and will become a big hit and will kill many more. Many books, articles, or cartoons will be published which can cause riots and we all will be watching helplessly like this and wondering whether this madness will stop at all or not. The decision is in our hands.

Thanks for reading and please share your views on this topic. 

(Copyright: Vinay Thakur. Please contact the author for re-posting or publishing)  

References:
1. http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/delhi/6-killed-in-Ghaziabad-unrest/articleshow/16415461.cms

Was Aseem Trivedi right or wrong?

There was so much fuss in Indian electronic and print media as well as on social networking sites about the arrest of Aseem Trivedi and the reasons behind his arrest. He published some cartoons as a part of the anti-corruption movement which many people didn't like and he was arrested in Mumbai on 9 September 2012 on charges of sedition. He is also facing very serious allegations of insulting the national emblem, Parliament, national flag, and constitution through his cartoons. Let's first see what are these cartoons, I am reproducing them below.

Cartoons are also artistic representations like any other art, most cartoonists try to comment on particular political or social situations through his/her cartoons. These cartoons are trying to covey some message that something is wrong with the current political and bureaucratic system of our country. I agree that they are very explicit and full of anger, but nowhere do I see the criminal intent of artist or his intention to insult the nation or its emblems. No one objected to why there is only Mother India, not Father India (gender bias). I know it's a silly question but so are the ones who say that these cartoons insult India or anything else. They are just an artist's ways of expressing their feelings. In India, people are over-sensitive about their religion, caste, or so-called monuments of honor like the parliament, national flag, temples, and historical figures. The list is too long and you never know what can become a reason to hurt people's feelings and trigger nationwide protests or even a riot.

As Indians we project ourselves as a very tolerant and broadminded society but this is not true. What we see is very intolerant people and political outfits who are ready to kill each other over very minor differences of opinion and I wonder as Indians do we even think about this paradox in our behavior or not. What Aseem's cartoons are doing here is trying to tell some message and this cartoon controversy has resulted in such a turn of events that this message of the anti-corruption movement or seriousness of corruption got totally sidelined and totally unrelated issue about press freedom and respecting national symbols dominated the discussions. I am sure government would love this.

In India, we have so many restrictions on the use of flags, and national symbols because we can insult them in so many ways. In many developed countries where people are as patriotic as Indians and love their country, the flag, and other symbols as much as we Indians, it is allowed to print the flag on almost everything (starting from slippers to bikinis) but in India one can't do it. We need to look into this issue more seriously. For anything we want to give respect, we make it sacred and sacred things no one can touch, comment on, or criticize, let it be any book, monument, emblem, flag, or person. Let people express their love for their nation, flag, or symbols the way they like. If these symbols are just made to stand in a showcase or for display books then how will they generate patriotism in people? I think everyone should be free to use them. 

According to me, Aseem Trivedi didn't do anything wrong, he was within his limits when he drew these cartoons and his intention was to spread some social message and not to hurt or insult anyone. We should learn to listen to criticisms directed toward our nation or leaders or religion or its gods, there is no shame or harm in listening to others' points of view. Many times these things make us realize us our own shortcomings or mistakes and if we shut others up just because they are saying or showing something unpleasant that means we don't have courage to face criticism and this also means that we are not willing to learn from our mistakes. I hope that incidents like this will never happen in the future and we will have a truly tolerant and democratic society in India and all over the world.

Thanks for reading and please share your views on this topic. 

(Copyright: Vinay Thakur. Please contact the author for re-posting or publishing)  

Bhishma - The grand old man of Mahabharat

As I mentioned many times in my posts, Mahabharat is a very interesting story and I love all of its characters because I can relate to them very easily at various stages of my own life. Bhishma is one of the powerful and very important characters of this epic. I think he is the one who is present for most of the story of Kaurav and Pandav. His physical presence is the longest in the epic and he is considered as the grand old man of the family. But for me, his life looks like a big tragedy, full of contradictions and useless sacrifices. He made great sacrifices for his father, step-brothers, grandkids, and his family in general but most of them created many problems for him and his family. Even though the intentions behind all his actions were noble and honest most of them created tough situations and complicated his life even more.

Bhishma was the son of Ganga and Shantanu. Ganga takes a unique promise from Shantanu before marrying him that he won't oppose any of her actions even if he finds them wrong or unethical and the day he will question her she will leave him. She drowned their first seven kids into the river and Shantanu didn't say anything, but he couldn't stop himself at the time when Ganga was about to drown the eighth one and tried to stop her. He saved the kid and that was Bhishma or Devavrat but lost his wife. Ganga left Shantanu with Devavrat. He returned to his father as a well-trained young boy expert in martial arts, weapons, and politics. Devavrat's life takes a unique turn when his father falls in love with a fisherwoman (Satyavati) and desperately wants to marry her. That woman's father didn't agree to marriage and to solve this problem Devavrat stepped in. The major concern of Satyavati's father was that his grandkids (Satyavati's sons) wouldn't get to become king because Devavrat was the eldest son of Shantanu. To clear this confusion, Devavrat forfeited his claim to the throne. However, Satyavati's father was also concerned that Devavrat's kids might fight with his grandsons for the kingdom and to eliminate this possibility Devavrat took a vow of lifelong celibacy. To reward him for this great sacrifice his father gave him the boon of 'swechha mrityu' (that is control over his own death, he can choose the time of his death). From here his problems begin, he vowed not to have his own family but vowed to take care of his father's family and this kept him engaged throughout his life. His father died, and his brothers died but he remained there, to fulfill his vows. He became the slave of his own vows because of them many problems were created in his life and he suffered a lot.

Bishma's life was filled with many twists and turns, he didn't get married himself but had to bring brides for his step-brothers and their kids in that process even got cursed by Amba which ultimately became the reason for his death. He tried his best to stop the Kurukshetra war and didn't give up even after the war started. For the first ten days of the war, almost nothing special happened as long as Bhishma was commander-in-chief of the Kuru army. He thought that Duryodhan would realize his mistake and stop the war but his all attempts failed and the war continued against his wish. He had to watch the destruction of his own family and kingdom in front of his own eyes. He couldn't stop Draupadi's insult despite being the eldest member of the family. Many of his decisions which he thought were in the best interest of his family (most of which he took hastily or in a rage of emotions) like his vow of celibacy caused troubles for him and his future generations.

From the beginning Bhishma's life was marred by troubles and uncertainties, his mother wanted to kill him immediately after his birth but his father saved his life and since then his life has been a roller coaster ride. Bhishma's life and character are a unique example of a person who with all his talent and capabilities failed to create any positive impact. He didn't even die without pain, he was on a bed of arrows for several days before his death, one can imagine how painful that would have been. Even the boon of swechha mrityu proved to be a curse for him. What he achieved by taking his vows and fulfilling them is also a big question. He is a unique person who even with all his powers and talent felt helpless in most of the situations, but one of the good qualities in him was he never gave up. It's not easy to carry on with our duties and efforts when every time our actions backfire on us and result in something else than what we expected. Bhishma's actions and sacrifices didn't produce the desired result but still, he didn't lose hope. We all feel something like this at some point in our lives and his character teaches us never to give up. Bhishma never gave up his duties and tasks no matter what difficulties he faced. I think we all can learn this lesson from him.

Thanks for reading and please share your views on this topic. 

(Copyright: Vinay Thakur. Please contact the author for re-posting or publishing)  

Politics - it is same everywhere

This is an election year in America, people here will vote to elect new or reelect the current president. The race is heating up, TV ads are growing, and soon debates will start. Recently, Republicans and Democrats both finished their conventions. I was listening to some of the speeches that were delivered at these conventions. I was surprised to hear the quality of these speeches, most of them were full of self-praise, the speakers were challenging the emotions of the audience, and they were full of artificial emotions. How will you feel when the wife of a billionaire says that she knows how it feels to make both ends meet, she claims to understand the struggle common men and women face in day-to-day life and height is that people clap for this and some of them even cry after hearing this? Some speakers make free reference to their religious beliefs. I personally believe that religion and politics should not be mixed together but unfortunately, almost in every country religion plays a dominant role in politics. They harped about their personal success stories, achievements, family members, and many other things that are not at all relevant to politics and the issues that this country is facing today. Even the candidate's wife spoke about them. I wonder why they have to speak about their husband at a political rally? Why is it required? What people expect to hear from them except unrestricted praise for their husbands and families. No doubt that some of the speeches were excellent but for me most of them were disappointing and sounded very staged and artificial.

Presidential debates are fun to watch and are a very important part of the presidential election in the USA. I wish something like this they start in India. I used to think that politics in the US is fought at a different level and with a different style than in India, but it's not true. It's all the same. In India where I live (Maharashtra) that state has produced many great orators and I have heard many of them, even many current political leaders can deliver much better (or at least similar) speeches than what we heard at these conventions. I wonder how American people tolerate all this nonsense. Maybe because they don't have many parties to choose from, sadly they have only two choices and that's why they cheer whatever they listen to as they know that this is all one can get. These conventions made one thing very clear if politics in India is dirty then here it's not that different.

Thanks for reading and please share your views on this topic. 

(Copyright: Vinay Thakur. Please contact the author for re-posting or publishing)  

When I felt like a foreigner in my own country

This week I came back to New Haven from my India visit. I try to visit India at least once in two years. Every visit is special and full of many, many good memories. I have a very strong attachment with my friends, relatives, parents and this place itself that I can't stay away for very long, this country pulls me back from wherever I am. 

No doubt that India is changing, and it's changing fast. The effect of globalization is seen everywhere. Cities are expanding like anything, villages are shrinking, greenery is disappearing from cities and is being replaced by huge buildings, vehicles on roads are increasing, all major fast food chains have their shops at every corner in all major cities, any brand in fashion or automobile you can get very easily now, spotting Mercedes or BMW on the road is no more a surprise. This all in just the last 9 years since I left the country, all this was bound to happen, and change was bound to come, and I welcome this change but I have somewhat mixed feelings about this rapid change for various reasons. I think the problem is the change is mostly superficial. I see that India is changing physically very fast but most other things are still as it is or may be going from bad to worse (just my personal analysis). No doubt that money inflow and circulation have increased in India, the mentality to save money for the future is long gone and consumerism is at its peak. I like it when I see that people are living comfortable lifestyles and can afford many comforts and luxuries that were out of their reach just a few years ago.

Many people are trying to ape Western countries blindly, fast food chains and global soft drink brands have replaced local brands. Even many Indians now prefer to drink mineral water outside their homes, that's a huge surprise for me. But still, there is no concern for the environment or a philanthropic mindset. Any festival season or long weekend results in huge cash collections in many famous temples across the country. People go out of their way to donate money to these religious organizations without being bothered about what these organizations do with all this money. Mostly this money or donations are offered to get something from God, many people who indulge in corruption donate heavily to these organizations and think that they washed their dirty hands and are free to carry on their loot. This is the sick mentality and it should change, donations should be for good causes not for selfish reasons.

When I saw all these things, for a moment I felt like a foreigner in my own country because I couldn't relate to all these things. I was wondering if is this the same place where I was born and brought up. No doubt the place has changed drastically but this change is not from within, it's just an external makeover. Still, there are undercurrents of casteism wherever you go, even elite universities and institutions are not free from these things. If educational institutes are polluted like this then how one can expect students coming out from these institutes to have unbiased views? I saw even small kids have very negative opinions about other communities and people from other religions. I was wondering from where they learn all these things? Why their parents don't take special care so that their kids don't get trapped in a negative mindset about people around them? Don't we have to develop our thinking along with material developments?

India is a country of diverse cultures and languages but this diversity itself has created many problems. We failed to take advantage of this diversity, rather we are stuck with the mindset of protecting our own identity (in terms of cast, religion, region, or language). These challenges are unique for India and I strongly believe that Indians are capable of handling them. Anti-corruption movement started by Anna Hazare and his group is a good initiative in this direction. At least someone is trying to change the system rather than just complaining and blaming it.

But please don't get a pessimistic view about India. It is much more than the problems that I stated above, it's the largest democracy in the world and it's not easy to manage so many people with different cultures, languages, and religions. It's a unique example where people can live happily despite so many problems and hurdles in their lives. 

Sometimes I do feel like a stranger in my own country but the very next moment I realize that I belong there, among all the chaos, noise, dust, and crowds resides a country that I love and care about. I know as a nation we face many problems and some tough challenges but I am also confident that we can handle it and this trip made my belief even stronger. I didn't come disappointed but I came full of optimism and hope.


Thanks for reading and please share your views on this topic. 

(Copyright: Vinay Thakur. Please contact the author for re-posting or publishing)  

Value and need of money

One thing I realized during my stay in India for the last few weeks is that the value of money has decreased but its need and importance have increased a lot. Things are getting expensive day by day. Real estate prices are increasing every minute in some big cities like Pune and Mumbai. There seems to be a race to earn money in whatever way one can. The competition is so fierce and tough that people don't even have time to relax and think which way they are going and what will be the consequences of their actions. India is known for spirituality, its simplicity as well as poverty. One can clearly see the effect of globalization on the Indian economy and its people. Things are changing and they are changing very fast, many things have improved, and at the same time, many have deteriorated. One can notice the speed of development by the amount of construction work going on around the Pune area. Huge multistory buildings are being constructed and trees are vanishing fast because of that, even beautiful hills are getting occupied by bungalows, and even after so much construction demand for apartments and land has not decreased a bit. I don't know if anyone has time to think about the environmental impact of this speedy development in Pune.

Many software firms have emerged and also many other private industries, this has created a huge job market for skilled workers. Government jobs have lost their status and importance. In my student days most brilliant students used to strive for careers in the government sector, because those jobs were considered secure (with all the extra money they could generate apart from their salary). The emergence of the private sector has changed this scenario completely, these jobs offer very attractive packages and this resulted in a change in the lifestyle of the middle class of India. The point of telling all this is that money has become a very essential commodity in India now, it's not like it was not but there never used to be such a blatant display of money in Indian society which we can see today. This development and uplifting of the middle class is very good, but at the same time disparity between rich and poor has become big. The gap has widened even more, there is only a certain class which is getting benefitted because of all this development. Along with these big apartment complexes, slums are also growing. Villages are shrinking, cities are growing beyond their capacity, they are overcrowded and all this is happening without any proper planning. This is what bothers me, it's all happening 'without any proper planning'. Currently, everyone is busy reaping the benefits of this phenomenon and is not bothered about its long-term effects.

People are feeling the need for money to match the lifestyle of other people around them. Competition is tough, pressure is immense and people are busy. It's good to compete but it should be a healthy competition, not a rat race where everyone is chasing others without knowing what the ultimate target is. One example of senseless competition can be seen in the car market. Today almost all major car manufacturers have their shops in India and one can see almost all expensive cars on Indian roads except hybrid car models. This is because it's not cool to have hybrids yet. BMWs, Mercedes, and Audis are status symbols and people like to have them but not the hybrids. No one even thinks about the environment while buying a car. This consciousness about our surroundings, about the impact of our actions on the environment should come along with the development of sustainable growth. Street vendors are still there and they still sell very good stuff but many people buy the stuff from malls, use of public transport has decreased significantly. All these social and economic changes have made people feel the need for more money even more.

Having the desire to earn money is not bad at all, living a comfortable life is good but it's also necessary to be conscious about energy consumption. The importance and need of money can not be denied or ignored but its necessity beyond certain limits can definitely be questioned. Everyone has to decide their own limits and work towards it, it can not be uniform for everyone. Pursuing our dreams is necessary, but we should check from time to time whether the dream we are pursuing is our own or forced on us by society. If we do this reality check from time to time then we all will realize the real value of money and can make our lives much more happy and comfortable.

Thanks for reading and please share your views on this topic. 

(Copyright: Vinay Thakur. Please contact the author for re-posting or publishing)